Richard dana tjpiiam



' NITED STATES.

PATE T OFFICE.

' RICHARD DANA UPIIAM, OF NEWV YORK, N. Y.

SHEATHING COMPOSITION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561,296, dated June 2,1896.

Application filed February 6, 1896. serial No. 578,281. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD DANA UPHAM, a citizen of the United States,residingin the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Sheathing Compositions, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention relates to sheathing compo sitions of a plastic characterwhen hot, but which are adapted to harden or set when cold, and are ofawaterproof character, so as to be especially adapted for use as aprotective covering or sheathing for iron or wooden ships.

It is the object of my invention to provide a sheathing composition ofthe foregoing general character composed of bituminous matter'such astar, pitch, asphaltum, or the like-upon the one handand of particles orminute portions of copper or other suitable metal upon the other, andwhich shall in no sense be a paint, but a true metallic sheathing. Ihave found that the foregoing ingredients when intimately comm in gledform in a heated condition a heavy and solid plastic mass,which whencold constitutes a body of very great toughness and durability and yetof a nature so elastic that it will readily adapt itself to theexpansion and contraction arising from changes in temperature of thesurface to which it may be applied.

' In the shipbuilding art it has been found necessary to protect thehulls of wooden vessels from the attacks of the Tereclo ncwalis and fromthe excessive growth of barnacles and other forms of marine life.

Many kinds of paint have, with more or less success, been tried, but thelife of paint upon the hulls of vessels is, on account of the violentattrition of the water; very short, and experience has demonstrated thata sheathing formed of copper is the most desirable for the purpose.Copper, however, as applied in a commercially pure state, owing to thelarge quantity necessarily used and to the expense incident to attachingit, adds greatly to the cost of the vessel. It is, moreover, open to theobjection that when applied in sheets the water is apt to penetrate'theinterspaces between the sheets and that it is subject to injuriousgalvanic action. With respect to iron and steel ships this lastobjection, coupled with the difficulty of attaching the copper sheets tothe metal hull, has made it necessary to abandon the use of copper andto rely upon paint to prevent fouling and preserve the iron hull againstdestruction by rust. Paint, however, being a mere film, must frequentlybe renewed, and the expense of docking, scraping, and repainting, withthe consequent costly delay, must be frequently incurred. In the case ofwar-ships this expense is enormous, and yet it is impossible to keepthem at sea for more than nine months or a year, as their speed ismaterially decreased by marine growth and their plates attacked by rust.

It is the especial object of myinvention to provide a composition ofmatter, compounded of copper or other suitable metal, in a subdividedcondition, and of asphaltum, adapted to be used as a sheathing materialfor ships.

In the manufacture of my improved composition I prefer to use asphaltumor an asphaltic cement, although of course other bituminous substances,such as tar or pitch, may for some uses to which the composition may beapplicable answer the purpose. I prefer, furthermore, to employ puremetal filings or finely-subdivided particles of copper in connectionwith the asphaltum, although I may 4 employ filings of any metal that isnot susceptible to injurious action of water and that possesses thenecessary antifouling properties. The proportions of the respective ingredients-that is to say, of the bituminous ingredient and the metallicingredient will depend upon the nature or condition of the bituminousingredient and upon the character of the metallic ingredient. more, toemploy an asphaltic cement that will be practically unaffected by wateror asphaltum properly manipulated and treated or tempered with asuitable fluX-such, for instance,,as liquid asphalt and filings orsawdust of copper-that is to say, copper in a finely-divided conditionorof aluminium or other suitable metal. In forming the compo sition ofthese two ingredients I find that a good result is obtained by usingseventy pounds of copper filings to thirty pounds of asphaltic cement,the asphaltic cement being composed of forty-three pounds pure refinedasphalt, seven pounds flux, and fifty pounds pulverized silica. I donot, however, confine I prefer, furthermyself to these proportions, asthey can be varied to suit the end in view.

It is desirable in the manufacture of my composition of matter that thepercentage of copper as compared with the percentage of asphaltum shouldbe as large as possible to I obtain a compound best suited for thepurpose for which my composition is to be used.

I limit my compound, however, to one which contains at least fifteen percent. of copper.

The two ingredientsnamely, the asphaltic cement and the metallicfilings-are brought together and while heated thoroughly ad-;

become cold. W'hen cold, it may, if desired,

be polished. The surface of the metal may, moreover, be first paintedwith asphaltic ceme'nt before the coating is applied, to the end ofsecuring a more perfect bond.

The composition formed of asphaltic cement and copper filings will whenapplied harden or set as soon as it is cold and will form upon theexterior of a 'vessela facing or sheathing of any desired thickness,which will adhere firmly to said surface, whether the latter be of woodor metal. It will, moreover, be no'n-oxidizable, not subject to galvanicaction, capable of taking and retaining a high degree of polish, andpossessing, equally with copper itself, the characteristics whichprevent the excessive growth of bar'nacles and other forms of marinelife. As, moreover, it is free from joints or interstices and isabsolutely waterproof it will afford a perfect protective covering thatwill prevent the rapid oxidation due to the action of saltwater uponupon the iron hull.

1 composed of asphaltum and copper filings or copper in afinely-dividedor pulverized condition will, while answering all thepurposes of a sheathing formed of pure copper, be not only lessexpensive in first cost, but also less expensive in cost of applicationto and maintenance upon the vessel, and is a practical and economicalsolution of the problem of attaching copper sheathing to steel and ironships. It is also advantageous in that repairs can easily be made, itbeing simply necessary to heat the damaged surface, scrape off thesoftened material, and reapply new material to recoat the scrapedsurface.

I am aware that compositions of iron particles and a bituminoussubstance have heretofore been employed for roadways and sidewalks andlay no claim to the same, especially as any such compound would beworthless as a sheathing composition for ships, because the ironparticles would be destroyed by contact with salt water, and as the ironhull, which the sheathing is intended to protect, would be destroyed bythe same action. Iron particles, moreover, possess no antifoulingproperties.

I am aware of the fact that in UnitedStates Letters Patent to J. N.Longden, No. 4%,818, a marine paint is described consisting ofprecipitated copper, asphaltum, and linseed-oil. To such a composition Ilay no claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent A waterproof protective sheathing composition forvessels, of a plastic nature when hot, adapted to harden when cold, andcomposed of as'phaltum or asphaltic cement and of copper or othersuitable metal in a finelydivided condition, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myinventionI have hereuntosigned my name this 1st day of February, A. D. 1896.

RICHARD DANA UPHAM. In presence of O. E. THURBER, N. O. LYON.

Corrections in Letters Patent No. 561,296.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 561,296, granted June2, 1896 upon the application of Richard Dana Upham, of New York, N. Y.,for an improve ment in Sheathing Composition, errors appear in theprinted specification requiring correction as follows: Page 1, line 91,after the word water and line 94, after th word asphalt commas should beinserted, and line 93, after the word flux, an line 96, after the Wordcondition the dashes should be stricken out and comma inserted instead;and that the said Letters Patent should be read with these correctiontherein that the same may conform to the record of the case in thePatent Oflice.

Signed, counter-signed, and sealed this 14th day of July, A. D. 1896.

[SEAL] WM. H. SIMS,

F irst Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

Gountersigned S. T. FIsHER,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

